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I ran into an interesting situation, I applied to rent an apt , I have a high credit score and good rental history. I did get arrested in 1992 on a misdomeaner non drug charge which ajudication was with held. It took them forever to approve my rental application because of this in my past? How far back do these apt complexes go? How many years ? This is crazy !

That is up to the background check company or the records that are out there. We never ask for how many years to go back. We just submit the application and get the papers faxed back with whatever comes back on it. We can choose for a National or State registry with or without a credit score.

I ran into an interesting situation, I applied to rent an apt , I have a high credit score and good rental history. I did get arrested in 1992 on a misdomeaner non drug charge which ajudication was with held. It took them forever to approve my rental application because of this in my past? How far back do these apt complexes go? How many years ? This is crazy !

We had a Prop Management Co go back 17 years and refused to rent to us on a traffic ticket issue...it was a very large app fee...good lunch money for the office. That was the last time we ever paid any application fee...to anyone.
Koale

We had a Prop Management Co go back 17 years and refused to rent to us on a traffic ticket issue...it was a very large app fee...good lunch money for the office. That was the last time we ever paid any application fee...to anyone.
Koale

Yes, and that is why I don't charge an application fee unless I am 90% sure the prospect will be approved, and only if I'm going to run a credit report. I prefer they get their own for free online.

Too many apartment complexes make their coffee money from application fees.

Oh, and for the OP - they can look back forever if they want. There is no regulation.

We charge every applicant and never had an issue. We are very honest what our criteria are and also inform them that if something is different then what they stated to us upfront it can be cause for denial, or a higher security deposit....depending on what it is.

We did deny a few....all for lying about drug convictions...not just one, multiple!

I have a rental and I check back several years depending on the appearance of the applicant. If I find anything except a few minor traffic tickets, or if the applicant lies I don't rent to them. While that might not sound fair, the rental is my property and I will rent it to whomever I want to rent it to. The monthly rent is very low compared to other rentals in the area, so I always have a bunch of people that want to rent this house. I don't have to rent it and I've left it vacant for several months until I was satisfied with an applicant.

Credit wise 7-10 years, criminal wise all the way back to your 18th birthday. It really depends on the company/person running the background and usually states it on the paperwork you sign to get it ran.

Actually, it depends on the state you reside in. Texas, for example, has made it a law that background checks can only go back up to 10 years. There's a 7 or 10 year option for employers, landlords, credit companies, etc. to check which option they want in the state background check. However, as always there is an exception to the rule. A registered sex offender's background will come up for the duration of time they have to register and possibly lifetime (There is a loophole as well for sex offenders in some cases regarding this, I'll explain later). A lot of states follow this guideline, but as always check your local state laws. Keep in mind, if you have convictions in other states & a nation-wide search is required then the laws of the state conducting the search apply, not the laws of the state the conviction is in.

I find it funny that people assume they can legally go back as far as they want, especially when anything you need to know can be found online. But one final thing to take note of, in most states it is illegal for a potential employer, landlord, credit company, etc. to conduct a background check for use of denying employment, leasing a residence, approving credit, etc. without a signed document from the applicant that specifically states it will be used for this purpose. And it doesn't matter if a person checked yes on an application for any of the above, the seperate form has to be there to do it.

So those of you who think "I'll rent to who I want", beware . . . if you don't have the right documentation that makes it legal you could be facing legal ramifications yourself if you have someone like me, who is an ex-felon & very aware of the law when it comes to this, that you deny my application based on my background.

In closing, as for the loophole for registered sex offenders, it varies from situation to situation (i.e. from applying for employment to applying to lease a residence to applying for credit).
1) In employment situations if your conviction date is over 10 years old then the company is not legally allowed to deny you employment, despite the fact that your background will still come up after the fact & possibly for the rest of your life.
2) In leasing it's a bit trickier. If it's an individual owned house then the same rules apply as for employment, unless it's part of a home-owners association & there are specific rules in place with the homeowners association that prevent leasing to ex-felons of all or specific types. But you also need to check specific city/county ordinances that can prevent you from living there as well. If it's an apartment type complex then they can discriminate based on the safety of their other occupants, because although it's an individual apartment all residents live in the same building/dwelling environment.
3) But there's another loophole to houses & apartments (or lofts to be more exact). Now the homeowners association & city/county ordinance rule usually applies no matter what, but under any other circumstance if you are purchasing the house or loft (as many lofts are individually for sale) then the rules do not apply, as no one can tell you wwhat you can or cannot purchase. And for the most part, if you own it you can live in it and there's nothing anyone can do about it, except move theirselves somewhere else if they don't like it.
4) As for credit, most don't even care about your criminal background, they're only concerned primarily with credit related issues that come up. So no real worries there.

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